


Second Look

by firefly124



Series: Second Look [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Comic), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairing, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-31
Updated: 2011-05-31
Packaged: 2017-10-19 23:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefly124/pseuds/firefly124
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Faith is sent to check up on Buffy and the Slayerettes at their castle in Scotland, she finds something and someone else completely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Look

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Still_Grrr Jossverse challenge community on LiveJournal for prompt #053-crossover pairing. Set post-comic #9 and post- _Deathly Hallows_ , with one rather obvious major alteration.

For what had to be the tenth time, Faith squared her shoulders and headed up the path towards the decrepit castle.

 _Why isn’t this talisman thingie Giles gave me working? Obviously there’s some kind of spell on the place, because I do **not** need to go check on my shiny new visa, or go get lunch, or anything else!_

What was even weirder was the little town at the other end of the path. She’d skirted around it, because something about it just got her hackles up. The few glimpses she’d had of the occupants just confirmed her suspicions: weird. Dudes – and dudettes – were all wearing some kind of robes.

 _Gotta wonder whether this mega-mojo that has Giles all skittish has anything to do with B at all. Maybe they’re all some kind of cult or something._

Not that it’d be any less worth investigating, if that turned out to be true. It’d just be more fun catching B and the Wicked Wicca at something big and bad.

She whirled around as she heard footsteps behind her. It was a kid, but that didn’t mean anything. At least it was broad daylight, so he probably wasn’t a vamp. Were there demons who looked like kids except for having purple hair?

“Hey, lady!” he called out. “You lost or somethin’?”

Not relaxing much, she put her hands on her hips and answered, “I could ask you the same thing, kid. Shouldn’t be running around by yourself. There's lots of bad … guys around, might want to hurt a kid like you. Where’s your Mom?”

“My mum died when I was a baby,” he said, looking only a little bit sad.

 _Well, he probably doesn’t remember her._ Faith winced anyway.

“She used to catch bad guys!” he announced proudly. “Do you catch bad guys?”

“Well, yeah, I guess you could say that. Sorta.” Somewhat more assured that he was really just a kid, she stooped to get eye level with him. “So, you gotta have someone looking after you.”

As the boy nodded earnestly, Faith first felt and then saw the man running towards them. Something about him made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She rose and put her hand on the kid's shoulder, ready to grab him if this turned out to be trouble.

“There you are, Teddy!” the man called out as he drew near. “What in Merlin's name are you doing way out here?”

“This lady was lost, Daddy.”

Well, that answered two questions, but not the one that had her most concerned right now.

The man looked at her as though sizing her up. His face was marked with scars that either came from some seriously huge animal or a demon. She wondered if that was what made her all antsy about him. Reluctantly, she took her hand from the boy’s shoulder and let it fall to her side.

“I apologize for my son’s … exuberance, Miss …?”

“Faith,” she replied. She probably should’ve used her alias, but things hadn’t worked out too well for “Hope.” “Just Faith. And you are …?”

“Lu— Remus,” he replied, extending his hand for a shake.

She shook it, still wary.

“So, are you?” he asked. “Lost, I mean.”

“Not exactly,” she hedged. “Just … I’m up here to check out that old ruin.” She jerked her head to indicate the path behind her. “I’m kinda into old, ruined castles.”

The guy looked at her strangely.

“You see a ruined castle?” he asked.

She almost asked him if she’d stuttered, but settled for a somewhat less sarcastic nod.

“Extraordinary.”

Now he was looking at her like a bug under a microscope.

“Um, what else should I see?”

“How did you know it was here?” he asked. “It is not listed in any Mu— travel guide.”

“But she’s not a Muggle, Daddy,” the boy piped up. “Auntie ‘Mione dresses like that sometimes, too, and she’s not a Muggle.”

“What’s a Muggle?” It didn’t sound good, whatever it was.

“That’ll do,” Remus said to his son. To her, he added, “But you can see the village?”

 _These people are seriously crazed._

“Um, yeah!”

 _Why wouldn’t I be able to see …? Oh!_

She unconsciously laid her hand over the talisman hanging on the chain around her neck.

 _So there’s spells on the town, and this thing cuts through those, but the ones on the castle are too strong. Serious mojo here then._

Serious mojo could mean Willow was involved. Or it could mean this was something else entirely. Faith was starting to bet on the latter. That meant she still needed to recon the place, but first she needed to get away from these two. They seemed nice enough, even though something about Remus still jangled her nerves, and that was all the more reason not to let them get mixed up in whatever was going on here. Any more than they already were, at least.

“Look,” she started.

“I see,” Remus said at the same time.

“You do?”

He reached for her elbow, and she pulled back out of reach warily.

“I won’t harm you,” he said. “I just want to show you something.”

Not entirely sure why, she let him touch her arm and turn her around. What she saw amazed her.

The castle wasn’t a ruin at all, and it was several times the size of the pile of rocks she’d been looking at. Over to one side, there was some kind of stadium-looking setup with things flying over it. It was too far to see for sure, but she had a feeling those things would turn out to be people playing some weird magical game. Because this was definitely some heavy magic.

When he removed his hand, the scene shifted back to the rubble she’d seen before, and Faith was abruptly certain she had to go clear something up with Customs back in London. Recognizing the spell, she fought it.

“What is it?” she asked.

“A school,” Remus answered.

“A magical school.”

“Yes.”

Teddy pulled on her jeans. “It’s the bestest school ever, and I get to go there when I get big enough!”

She couldn’t help smiling, even though she’d never been much for school herself. She ruffled his purple hair that actually seemed to have some orange in it now.

“So you see why I must know what brought you here,” Remus said. He looked concerned. And who wouldn’t be, with someone showing up to check out a magically protected school he planned to send his kid to someday? But there was something else. He looked like he really wanted to believe she wasn’t a threat.

“Nothing bad,” she replied. “Or, we thought it was bad. Usually anyplace with too much magic turns out to be bad.”

“She catches bad guys like Mum used to!” Teddy added.

Remus’ expression became shrewd. “Or possibly … vampires?”

Faith’s jaw never dropped. That wasn’t something it did. So that didn’t happen. But it kind of felt like it wanted to.

“Demons? Forces of darkness?”

“Maybe,” she replied, wondering how this guy was quoting from _How To Be A Stuffy Watcher_. “What of it?”

The look he gave her almost felt familiar. Almost. Guys checking her out, that she was used to. Maybe it was just because his kid was watching, but he wasn’t undressing her with his eyes or just staring at her boobs or anything. But he was definitely sizing her up, and not just in the “is she going to hurt my kid” kind of way he’d been doing before.

“I believe we may have rather a bit in common,” he said at last. “And I imagine you have more questions to answer for your Watcher, though I don’t promise to be able to help you with all of them. May I buy you a butterbeer, and perhaps we could talk a bit?”

“Beer, I’m good with,” she said, “but I’ll skip the butter, thanks.”

She was just going to get some answers. And possibly a free beer or two. This guy wasn’t remotely her type, and he came with a built-in rug-rat to boot. But when he held his arm out to her, the training she’d done with Giles kicked in and she placed her hand in the crook of his elbow the way she’d been taught, and it actually felt kind of nice.

This was just about getting information. But her type hadn’t worked out that well for her before, so maybe she’d keep her options open. Things weren’t always what they looked like, after all. Sometimes it paid to give a second look, and there was nothing that said she couldn’t do that over a beer.


End file.
